


are there still beautiful things?

by mikeywaters



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Fluff and Angst, M/M, bi reggie, but someone beat me to it so, could be read as one-sided but they're in love your honour, found family trope, i got the idea to write something based off seven by taylor swift, i swear its different, luke helps distract him, pan luke, pre-death, reggie has adhd!!, reggies parents argue all the time, round 2 electric boogalo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:39:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikeywaters/pseuds/mikeywaters
Summary: luke is reggie's anchor when reggie's parents fight.
Relationships: Luke Patterson/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 317





	are there still beautiful things?

Reggie never intended for his friends to find out what his home situation was like, he'd had it drilled into his head that he was not to talk badly of his family, of his  _ father _ . He preferred it that way anyway, even at 7 years old Reggie knew if his friends found out they would treat him differently. He didn't want pity or to talk about how scared he would get when the yelling started. He just wanted to play with his friends who never raised their voices at him, who  _ never _ treated him like a burden.

Still, it was no surprise that Luke found out about it later on. Luke with his big hazel eyes and floppy hair and huge heart and inability to take things at face value, always looking for a deeper understanding. 

“Reggie why can't we ever play at your house?”

“Can we come over to your house today Reggie? Your dad has that huge TV in the living room!”

“Why can't we have our sleepover at your house? I wanna see your room!” 

Reggie could only brush off the constant questioning for so long, eventually he started to give in. Bit by bit, Luke, Alex and Bobby started to come to Reggie’s house. 

He tried to time it so his friends were only over when one of his parents was home. Usually when his dad was at work. Luke was insistent though, always wanting to sleep over and stay later, and Reggie could never say no to Luke. Alex would stay over occasionally too but his parents were stricter than Luke’s and Bobby only came over for band practice or to play video games so most of the time it was just Reggie and Luke.

At first his parents tried to keep the arguing for when Reggie’s friends weren't at the house, but that didn't last long, especially after it became a regular thing for Luke to stay the night. 

The first time it happened Luke was shocked, they were playing with their light up lightsabers in the dark when the yelling started down the hall. Reggie tried to block it out and ignore it, wanting to keep playing with his friend, but Luke stopped and dropped his lightsaber. 

He flicked the light switch on and turned back to Reggie. “Why are your parents yelling?” He asked with a confused look on his face.

“I don't know. They just do that sometimes…” Reggie answered, abandoning his lightsaber to sit on his bed and fidget with the corner of his blanket. Luke came over to join him, laying on his back and looking at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. 

“Have you seen the big dipper Reg?” he asked suddenly. Reggie furrowed his eyebrows, confused by the sudden topic change, but moving to lay on his back next to Luke all the same.

“No, what's the big dipper?” Reggie asked and Luke grinned.

“A constellation! Look up there, right there the stars that kinda look like a big spoon!” Luke giggled pointing at the stars on Reggie’s ceiling that  _ definitely  _ weren't stuck on in any certain way to mimic actual constellations, but it distracted him enough that the yelling became background noise, static compared to their laughs and excited exclamations when they found different shapes among the stars. 

-

A few years later on one of the nights it got really bad the yelling couldn’t be ignored no matter how many fake constellations they pointed out to each other. 

Reggie tried furiously to brush away tears as they fell, embarrassed that his best friend Luke who was always so calm and who never cried could see him breaking down. 

Luke was squirming in his place, cross-legged on Reggie's bed while Reggie was curled up in the corner, his knees brought up to his chest and hands covering his ears as he rocked back and forth. He got up suddenly, making Reggie look up to see where he was going. Luke was looking back at him and he faltered a bit seeing Reggies cheeks red and tear stained. His bottom lip wobbled momentarily before he shook himself off and reached a hand out for Reggie to take. 

“What are you doing?” Reggie asked, his voice sounding scratchy and quiet from crying.

“We're going to be pirates.” Luke grinned lopsidedly, reaching his hand out further. Reggie took it tentatively and Luke pulled him up, grabbing a torch off of Reggie’s desk before pulling him into Reggie's big closet, shutting the door behind them. The sounds of Reggie's parents arguing were muffled inside the closet so they could no longer make out the words that were being exchanged, Reggie felt his heart rate slow down a small amount. 

Luke pulled two large pirate hats out of Reggie's dress up box that was stored in the closet, putting them on both of their heads, and turned the torch on. The batteries were running out of power so the light that was emitted was only enough to illuminate their faces.

“We're pirates and we're hiding in an enemy ship, we're going to ambush them and steal their treasure but have to stay in here until we hear it go quiet okay?” Luke asked, still holding on to Reggie's hand and squeezing it when Reggie smiled.

“Aye, aye Captain.” Reggie grinned, wiping the tears that had stopped falling now from his face.

  
  


-

  
  


At 16 years old the boys both had phones now, and sleepovers were less frequent while they were studying for exams, the fights however, were getting worse. 

It was a particularly bad fight that sent Reggie into a meltdown, he was struggling to slow down his breathing as he rocked himself back and forth, he was fidgeting with a guitar pic in his hands, flipping it around repetitively.

He yelped and dropped the pic to cover his ears as he heard a plate be thrown and smashed in the kitchen, the yelling only getting progressively louder after that.

Reggie quickly reached for his phone, finding Luke's contact in a matter of seconds and pressing call. He held the phone to his ear while he covered his other with his hand and murmured a quiet plea for his best friend to answer his phone. 

“Hey Reggie!” Luke answered happily. Reggie practically whimpered at the sound of his voice. 

“How bad is it tonight?” Luke asked gently when Reggie didn't answer, he could probably hear the yelling in the background. 

“Bad.” Reggie whispered, he found it hard to talk much when he was this overwhelmed. Luke sighed on the other end of the phone.

“Mom grounded me for skipping school on Monday to play that gig, so I can't come get you Reg. I'm so sorry. I'm here though okay? Don’t hang up, I'm right here.” Luke spoke desperately, like all he wanted was to come over and be there to take Reggie away from this pain. 

“I won't hang up.” Reggie said, starting to slow down his breathing.

“Good, that's good Reg. Can you get in your closet for me?” Luke asked and Reggie nodded even though the other boy couldn't see him. He got into his closet that he was beginning to outgrow and sat down, closing the door behind him. 

“Are you in the closet?” Luke asked after a while, Reggie nodded again before realising his mistake.

“Y-Yeah. I'm here.” He replied. The closet muffled the words enough that Reggie no longer had to hear the reason they were fighting, this time it was because Reggie’s teacher had contacted them about getting him tested for ADHD or a learning disability.

“It's my fault, Luke. The school wants me tested for ADHD or some kind of learning disability… I don’t know they think I'm stupid or something. And dad’s mad, mom said it wasn’t a bad thing and it'd be better if we knew… so maybe they could get me some help but uh- dad he- he yelled at her and said there was nothing wrong with me and I'm just lazy and too focused on the band to focus on school.” Reggie explained through gasped breaths and sobs, starting to melt down all over again just from re-hashing the situation.

“It's not your fault Reg, there  _ is _ nothing wrong with you. Even if you  _ do _ have something. Tyler in my English class has a learning disability and he's cool. And forget about your dad. He's a jerk.” Luke said firmly, making Reggie smile a little despite his current feelings.

“We won't need school anyway, or your parents, Sunset Curve are gonna get  _ big  _ and we’ll get out of this town for good okay? Me and you, Reg. And Alex and Bobby. We're gonna get to play our music for millions of people and we'll all prove our parents wrong.” Luke continued encouragingly. It sounded like a promise when he said it.

“Luke… What if I end up like my dad? I love him but… he's so angry and tired all the time. It's like nothing makes him happy anymore. Like he's forgotten what love is. I don't wanna forget what love is.” Reggie admitted quietly, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palm to stop the tears from falling.

“Reggie, the minute I see you start to act like that, the  _ minute _ you give me any indication that you're forgetting what love is, I'll pull you out myself. We'll run away and we'll be pirates, you and me Reg. And we'll bring Alex and Bobby with us. We can make Bobby scrub the deck.” Luke joked and Reggie let out a pathetic laugh.

“We’re the only family we'll ever need, Reggie. I love you. Alex and Bobby, they love you too. We won't let you forget what that feels like.” Luke continued, more sincerely this time. 

“Thanks, Luke. I love you too, all you guys.” Reggie replied. His breathing had evened out now and the yelling had turned into quieter talking, it was still angry and hurtful words but it was easier to block out.

“Come live with me.” Luke said suddenly and Reggie giggled.

“I can't just run away and live with you Luke, our parents wouldn't let-” Reggie started to reason before Luke cut him off.

“Forget about our parents. Come live with me, then you won't have to cry, or hide in your closet.” Luke practically begged, sounding sad. If Reggie didn't know any better he'd say Luke was crying.

“Hey, when Sunset Curve gets big we can both run away. Alex too, his parents have been treating him like crap since he came out as gay. We can live together.” Reggie spoke determinedly, fidgeting with the sleeves of the red flannel shirt Luke had given to him last year was hanging above him in the closet. 

“Yeah, you're right. And we will, okay? This is going to happen for us. Right Reg?” Luke prompted and Reggie smiled at his dedication to the band and to his friends. 

Really, it was no surprise that Reggie had fallen in love with Luke over time. He was Reggie’s anchor, his stability. He was Reggie's constant reminder that there were still beautiful things, that love could still be good and pure. That happiness could still be a part of Reggie's future.

_ “Aye aye, Captain _ . _ ” _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> although this is different because i wrote it before i saw someone already had this idea please go read theirs anyway 🥺 their @ is jenniferwrites and the fic is called and we can be pirates !! its so cute and i feel obligated to get y'all to read it because apparently we share a braincell


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